IV. Old Chepstow's brides may curse the toil, THE DYING BARD. [The Welch tradition bears, that a Bard, on his deathbed, demanded his harp, and played the air to which these verses are adapted; requesting, that it might be performed at his funeral.] AIR-Daffydz Gangwen. Dinas Emlinn, lament; for the moment is nigh, II. In spring and in autumn thy glories of shade. III Thy sons, Dinas Emlinn, may march in their pride, IV. And Oh, Dinas Emlinn! thy daughters so fair, V. Then adieu, silver Teivi! I quit thy lov'd scene, With Lewarch, and Meilor, and Merlin the Ola, VI. And adieu, Dinas Emlinn! still green be thy shades, Unconquer'd thy warriors, and matchless thy maids! And thou, whose faint warblings my weakness can tell, Farewell, my lov'd Harp! my last treasure, farewell! THE MAID OF TORO. O, dow shone the sun on the fair lake of Toro, And weak were the whispers that wav'd the dark wood, All as a fair maiden, bewilder'd in sorrow, Sorely sigh'd to the breezes, and wept to the flood. All distant and faint were the sounds of the battle, With the breezes they rise, with the breezes they fail, Till the shout, and the groan, and the conflict's dread rattle, And the chase's wild clamour, came loading the gale. Breathless she gaz'd on the woodlands so dreary; Slowly approaching a warrior was seen; O, save thee, fair maid, for our armies are flying! And scarce could she hear them, benumb'd with despair: HELLVELLYN. [In the spring of 1805, a young gentleman of talents, and of a most amiable disposition, perished by losing his way on the mountain Hellvellyn. His remains were not discovered til three months afterwards, when they were found guarded by a faithful terrier-bitch, his constant attendant during frequent solitary rambles through the wilds of Cumberland and Westmorland.] I CLIMB'D the dark brow of the mighty Hellvellyn, Lakes and mountains beneath me gleam'd misty and wide; All was still, save, by fits, when the eagle was yelling, And Catchedicam its left verge was defending, One huge nameless rock in the front was ascending, When I mark'd the sad spot where the wand'rer had died. Dark green was that spot mid the brown mountainheather, Where the Pilgrim of Nature lay stretch'd in decay, How long didst thou think that his silence was slumber; When the wind wav'd his garment, how oft didst thou start; How many long days and long weeks didst thou number, When a Prince to the fate of the Peasant has yielded, And pages stand mute by the canopied pall: Through the courts, at deep midnight, the torches are gleaming; In the proudly arch'd chapel the banners are beaming; Far adown the long aisle sacred music is streaming, Lamenting a Chief of the People should fall. But meeter for thee, gentle lover of nature, To lay down thy head like the meek mountain lamo When, wilder'd, he drops from some cliff huge in stature, |